Timothy So and Cuimei Zhang

What labels would you use for today’s China? Powerful economic integration? Huge population? Strong education?

Ms. Lin Yang

An entrepreneur and famous journalist in China, Ms Lan Yang has been called “the Oprah of China.” She recently gave a TED talk titled The Generation that’s Remaking China, capturing vivid images of today’s China. To these images, we add that a vibrant, science-based well-being movement is already in full swing in China, well launched in 2011.

According to Martin Seligman, if we are to reach the Flourish 51 goal, that 51% of the world’s population be flourishing by the year 2051, China, having the world’s largest population, has an important role to play. Indeed, 2011 is the “Year of Well-being” for China. Positive psychology has attracted so much attention from the government, academic institutes, business corporations, media, and individuals, forming a magnificent movement toward well-being.

Wen Jiabao

Government Investment in Well-being

After three decades of strong economic growth, China is now focusing on the well-being of her 1.3 billion citizens. In the National People’s Congress in March 2011, “well-being” became a keyword as many representatives argued that the central government should take the well-being of the people, rather than economic growth, as the highest priority. In the official congress report of 12th Five-Year Plan period that laid out China’s next five-year plan (2011-2015), Premier Minister Wen Jiabao set a lower goal for GDP growth, and focused more on improving people’s lives and well-being.

Local governments in China also actively take well-being as their goal. For example, Guangdong, the richest province in China, officially set “Happy Guangdong” as its goal for the next five years. Campaigns for “Harmony Society” and “Citizen Happiness” have been kicked off among cities in China.

Academic, Business, and Media Investment

Many academic institutes invested effort in researching the science of well-being and positive psychology. For example, with Timothy So as co-chair, Tsinghua University and the United Nations Human Rights Council are organizing the 2nd International Positive Psychology Conference of China in 2012 with Martin Seligman as keynote speaker.

Many well-being workshops have been provided by state-owned and private corporations. Health museums have offered workshops combining Traditional Chinese Medicine with positive psychology.

Ms. Yang is also looking to influence very high-level political and business leaders. Recently, she presented her insights about happiness and success in her book titled I Asked One of the World (in Chinese, not available in English> based on her interviews with more than 500 of the best brains and leaders in the world including Bill Gates, Hilary Clinton, and Tony Blair. She has invited Martin Seligman to be interviewed next year during his 2012 China visit. She has also invited Timothy So to be her partner on her Happiness Quotient program.

A great deal has happened around the world since 1999 when Seligman and others started the field of positive psychology. As described above, positive psychology is having an important influence on Chinese life. Inspired by the insights of many western studies as well as the amazing articles on PPND, we hope to see more scientific research in China and more applications in Chinese media, policies, corporations, and home life. With 2011 as a powerful launch point, we look forward to more interactions with the western community as we work together to achieve the goal of Flourish 51.

Images
picture of Wen Jiabao from Wikimedia. All other images used with permission from the GCPPA.

2011 in Review: Positive Psychology in China was last modified: December 28th, 2011 by Timothy So and Cuimei Zhang

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